The Lord of the Rings

Lord of the Rings is a LEGO theme released in 2012. 5 Sets were released in 2013. No sets were released in 2014, meaning the theme has been discontinued or on hiatus.

The Fellowship of the Ring
The theme is based on the film trilogy by Peter Jackson, which is in turn based on the books by J. R. R. Tolkien.

The trilogy begins when a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins inherits his uncle Bilbo's ring, which he took from Gollum on a previous adventure. After Bilbo leaves to live with the Elves in Rivendell, Gandalf the Grey explains that the ring is actually the One Ring, the most powerful ring of all the Rings of Power made, belonging to the Dark Lord Sauron, and used to dominate all the people of Middle-Earth. Now that Sauron is attempting to take Middle-Earth once again, it must be destroyed to prevent him from using its great power. Frodo left his home of the Shire with Sam Gamgee, his gardener, upon a quest to reach Rivendell, and seek the elves' advice in the matter.

The two were shortly joined by Merry and Pippin, two young friends of theirs. The four were then pursued out of the Shire by nine black riders, and only escaped from them after crossing the Brandywine river.

The travelers sheltered at an inn called The Prancing Pony, where they met Aragorn, revealed to be Gandalf's friend and ally. With his help, they narrowly escape the riders again, and continue to Rivendell. They are attacked once more by the riders at Weathertop, and Aragorn battled them off with flaming torches, but not before the leader of the group stabbed Frodo.

With Frodo mortally wounded by the rider's blade, the five fled to Rivendell, and, before they reached there, they encounter the elf Arwen, who speeds Frodo ahead to Rivendell, attempting to outrace the riders. Arwen and Frodo finally escaped from the riders when she summoned a flood of water, and swept their pursuers away.

After waking up in Rivendell, re-encountering Gandalf, and realizing that Bilbo is still living there, Frodo, along with his comrades, attended the council of Elrond. There they meet Boromir the man, Legolas the elf, and Gimli the dwarf. The council discussed the ring, and, Gandalf and Elrond reveal that it can only that the Ring can only be destroyed by the fires at the heart of the volcano Mount Doom, where it was forged. The council decides that a fellowship shall go out together in an attempt to reach Mount doom and destroy the Ring. The full Fellowship of the Ring, consisting of Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir, set off. They are stopped by the magic of the wizard Saruman, and are forced to journey through the dwarven Mines of Moria. Unbeknownst to the Fellowship, the Dwarven company led by Gimli's cousin Balin were no longer living in the mines and the dwarves were long since dead as accounted by the last page in the book of Mazarbul. Pippin the hobbit, being careless knocked a skeleton into a well which was attached to a shackle of chains that made a huge rattling throughout the mines, alerting the inhabitants to the Fellowship's presence. Enraged by the sad tale, Gimli, along with the rest of the fellowship took a stand against the now approaching goblins and did combat with them and a Cave Troll. After being chased by a gigantic creature known as the Balrog, the party attempted to escape the mines. Gandalf seemingly defeated the Balrog by forcing it into an extremely deep crevasse, but was pulled in with it.

After the remaining fellowship escaped the mines, the eight were separated by another battle. Merry and Pippin were captured by a band or orcs, Boromir was killed by Lurtz, and Frodo and Sam decided to continue with the ring on their own, so as not to endanger their friends.

The Two Towers
In the beginning of the second film, Frodo and Sam encountered Gollum, a corrupted hobbit-like creature who craved the ring. After capturing him, he became their guide. He leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes, and a fair distance towards Mordor, but then the party was captured by Faramir. However, on hearing news of his brother Boromir's corruption at the hands of the Ring, Faramir lets them go, to accomplish their task.

Back at the scene of the battle, Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn set of in pursuit of the band of orcs that captured Merry and Pippin. Shortly thereafter, they met the Riders of Rohan and their leader, Eomer, who told them that King Theoden of Rohan was possessed by Saruman, and had exiled him. The riders had also, apparently, encountered a band of orcs, and killed them all. The pursuers then set off, and, after some searching, Aragorn found the hobbit's trail again, leading into the forest. They ddi not find their quarry, but encountered Gandalf, who had, apparently, defeated the Balrog, and became the new white wizard, replacing the corrupt Saruman. After the party rode to Edoras, Gandalf freed Theoden from Saruman's control, and Grima, the king's former favourite, and a spy of Saruman living in Edoras, is thrown out. The Uruk-hai then proceeded to launch an attack on Rohan, and the company, along with Theoden, his army, and his whole people, fled to Helm's Deep, and were there attacked by Saruman's army of ten thousand Uruks, which, with aid from Eomer and his army, they defeated.

Merry and Pippin turned out to have escaped form the orcs, and Treebeard, an Ents. After discovering the havoc Saruman had wreaked on their beloved forest, the Ents launched a successful attack on Isengard, fortress of Saruman, almost utterly destroying it.

The Return of the King
Aragorn, Gandalf, and company, then proceeded to Isengrad, where they met Merry and Pippin. Pippin found a strange orb, and after seeing a vision of Sauron's plan in it, Gandalf and Pippin rode to Gondor to warn the people of an impending attack.

Elrond gives Aragorn the ancient sword of Andúril, with which to win the allegiance of the Army of the Dead.

The orcs proceeded to attack Gondor, and a mighty battle took place, with the assistance of the Rohirrim cavalry, but even then, the city was only saved by the timely intervention of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the army of spirits.

The victorious army then proceeds to the Cormallen fields, outside Mordor, in the hopes of distracting Sauron, so that the hobbits can complete their mission.

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum reach the Black Gates of mordor, but cannot enter, as they are too heavily guarded. Gollum leads them up through a secret path into Mordor, but, after Sam grows suspicious of his action, tricks Frodo into abandoning him. He then leads Frodo into the lair of Shelob, a gigantic spider, in the hopes that, once the spider killed Frodo, he could take the Ring. Sam fended off Shelob, but she still managed to inject him with venom and cocoon him, which put him into a comatose state. Orcs arrived and brought Frodo to their tower, forcing Golum to flee. Sam arrived at the orc's lair, finding most of them dead at their own hands, after arguing over the ring. Sam then freed Frodo, and, together, they finally reach Mount Doom. Frodo was about to destroy the ring, but, realised that he couldn't. The ring's power over him was not too strong. It was at that point when Gollum ambushed them. Gollum took back the ring by biting of Frodo's finger, but overbalanced on the edge of the cliff leading into the volcano's fiery interior, and perished, along with the ring.

The destruction of the ring also caused Sauron to explode, creating a massive earthquake, that eradicated most of the enemy forces at the Cormallen fields. The remainder of the fellowship was thus reunited, and the hobbits returned to the Shire. Frodo wrote about his adventure in the remaining pages of the book about Bilbo's story, but, eventually, set of with the Elves, Gandalf, and Bilbo to the Undying Lands, and left Sam to finish the story.

Sets

 * 9469 Gandalf Arrives
 * 9470 Shelob Attacks
 * 9471 Urk-hai Army
 * 9472 Attack on Weathertop
 * 9473 The Mines of Moria
 * 9474 The Battle of Helm's Deep
 * 9476 The Orc Forge
 * 79005 The Wizard Battle
 * 79006 The Council of Elrond
 * 79007 Battle at Black Gate
 * 79008 Pirate Ship Ambush